Hours after Karnataka State Cricket Association announced its squad for the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season, Karun Nair, India's second triple-centurion in Tests, expressed his disappointment over his exclusion from the squad with an emotional tweet.
After missing out of the Syed Ali Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, Nair was once again ignored for first two matches against Services and Pondicherry, of the prominent domestic tournament. The right-handed batter took to social media and metaphorically asked cricket to give him one more chance. “Dear cricket, give me one more chance," Nair wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
The 31-year-old batter is a record holder in Test cricket. Nair hasn’t played a competitive game at the senior level since August. He has last played for Mysuru in the Karnataka Premier League. Since the selectors have only named the squad for the first two matches, Nair might make his return as the tournament will progress.
Notably, Nair, who made his India debut in June 2016, played 6 Tests and 2 ODIs over the course of the next one year. Nair emerged as a rare talent as he smashed unbeaten 303 in his debut Test match.
Despite his brilliant performance in his debut Test match, Nair played six Tests and 2 ODIs over the course of 1 year. However, he remained regular in the Test squad till 2018. Speaking of his performance in domestic cricket, Nair has amassed 5922 runs in 85 First Class matches with 15 tons and the best score of 328 at an average of 48.94. He has also made 2199 runs in 90 List-A matches with two centuries and 2989 runs in 150 T20 matches with two centuries at a strike rate of 131.15.
